


Renegade

by ClassicallyYours



Series: Styx [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, fuck I'm new here I don't know how to tag things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-16
Updated: 2013-10-10
Packaged: 2017-12-23 16:05:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/928459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClassicallyYours/pseuds/ClassicallyYours
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren is a down-on-his-luck hitch hiking teenager who gets by through stealing from the people he meets until one day he's left stranded in the middle of the desert. That's when Levi shows up, his savior and quite possibly the cause of his untimely death. [QUASI-SPOILERS]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Work

It was hot as balls out.

That’s what Eren Jaeger thought to himself as he stuck his thumb out over the sweltering black pavement of the interstate. He had no idea where he was. Somewhere in Arizona, must have been. Last he knew he had been breezing through San Diego with a twenty-something daddy’s girl. And she had been a rich one, too. Eren smirked as he remembered the wad of cash he stole from her nightstand just before he breezed out of town.

And where had that gotten him? Stranded in the middle of bumfuck nowhere without a penny to his name.

“Shouldn’t have blown it all on booze,” he said to himself as he wiped the sweat off his brow with the back of his arm. Jesus it was hot out. He wished he had something other than jeans to wear, but he knew he’d be thankful for them if he got a ride with a trucker and ended up somewhere like Colorado.

Eren chuckled to himself. Maybe it was because he caught himself thinking of his miserable excuse for a life. Maybe it was the early effects of heat stroke.

After a couple of minutes, he began to think he might want to start walking. He peered down the seemingly endless strip of highway, wondering just how far the nearest town was from where he currently stood.

Then a car appeared on the horizon. Like a glorious deus ex machina, it rumbled towards him from the distance, getting closer and closer every second. Eren bit his lip. This was it. It was this guy, or walking. If this car didn’t stop for him, he wasn’t sure what he’d do. Probably lie down and accept his fate as fine fare for the vultures.

He held his thumb out determinedly, staring at the car as it barreled towards him, trying to will it to stop. The car wasn’t very far from him at all now. He could feel the wind picking up around him as he focused all of his energy into keeping his thumb held up straight.

“Come on, you bastard,” he muttered to himself.

And then, just like that, the car blew past him. For a moment, he locked eyes with the driver. Cold, impassionate, gray eyes beamed dully at him as he flew down the highway straight by him. Eren gaped at the now retreating car in shock. That was it. That was his chance. His only chance. And he had missed it.

Giving up, the disgruntled teen fell onto his knees and buried his face in his hands.

“AUGH! I knew it was too good to be true!” he cried out. He cursed himself as he lifted the black backpack by his feet up over his shoulder, rising up and dusting himself up. “Well, guess this is where you die, Eren. In the middle of the goddamn desert. Who would’ve thought.”

He had begun walking in the opposite direction the car had gone when he heard it. It was a low rumble coming from behind him. Just like that, Eren perked back up, throwing his arm out into the road and holding his thumb up with all of the strength he had left in him.

He had been given a second chance. Realizing just how important this was, he trained his eyes even harder on the new car approaching him fast until he realized… It was the same car that had just passed him? Eren’s arm dropped slightly as he stared at the beat up yellow Camaro that was beginning to pull to a stop in front of him.

The driver lowered his window. He looked at Eren with those same disinterested gray eyes as he spoke.

“Get in before I change my mind again.”

Eren blinked as he processed the words. Get in the car…? With him…?

“Now, brat,” the man barked.

That shook Eren from his thoughts. He gave a quick nod as he adjusted his backpack on his shoulders and jogged over to the passenger’s side, opening the door and quickly sliding in, not even getting a chance to buckle his seat belt before the man was turning the car around and racing off in the opposite direction again.

“Jesus Christ…” Eren mumbled to himself.

“You say something?” The man asked.

“I—“

“Good, that’s what I thought,” he cut Eren off, not even bothering to look over at him as he spoke. He just stared ahead dully. “I don’t talk to greasy hitchhikers. Normally I don’t even bother to pick them up, but you looked so damned pathetic out there with your patched up Chucks and rag tag hobo sack.”

“Hey,” Eren sat up and glared at the older man, “I’ll have you know I paid good money for the backpa—”

The driver quickly cut him off, “Rule one, you don’t speak to me.” He paused for a moment to pull a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and smoothly slid one out. He put it to his lips and held it there as he grabbed the silver lighter from his cup holder and lit it. “Rule two, don’t touch anything in this car other than the seat. Got it, punk?”

Eren folded his arms and slid back down. Whatever. He guessed he could just sit tight and stare out of the window. This guy was doing him a favor, after all. Carting his ass off to who knows where. He hoped it was at least somewhere with a Seven Eleven and free Wi-Fi. He wanted to check how his sister was doing on Facebook. A giant-sized Icee sounded pretty good right now, too.

After a few minutes of awkward silence had passed and he had grown tired of watching the endless sand dunes fly by, Eren turned to get a better look at the man who had practically saved his life. He was short, the boy could tell, even when he was sitting in the car. He had smooth black hair that was blown back by the wind gushing through his open window, his arm hanging loosely out of it. Every so often he drew the cigarette from his lips to breathe out a thin line of smoke, then delicately replaced it and put his hand back out of the window. He wore a red v-neck with a pair of aviator’s tugging down on the neck, and dark black jeans that hugged his waist fashionably.

At that moment his eyes darted over to Eren, and then quickly back to the road. “The fuck’s your problem?”

Eren huffed. “I’m sorry, I thought you told me not to speak.”

The man snorted humorlessly. “You’re fuckin’ hilarious, kid. What’s your name?”

The teen pouted as his brow furrowed over his emerald eyes. “Eren. What about you?”

“Levi,” the man replied curtly. “But you can address me as ‘great lord and savior’ after the favor I just did you. I saved you’re fuckin’ life, brat. You know that right? How the fuck did you end up in the middle of the goddamn desert anyway?”

Eren looked down at his feet. “I was hitchhiking with some big trucker guy and he just dropped me off there. Didn’t say another word to me.”

Levi smirked. “What a douche bag. Well you’re lucky I found you on my way to work.”

“Work?” Eren asked incredulously. “We’re in the middle of the desert, where the hell do you work?”

“You’ll see soon enough,” Levi said. And that was that. Silence set back in as Levi continued to take periodic drags of his cigarette and Eren drummed his fingers on his knee. He was very careful not to touch the nicely polished leather interior of the car. The thing was spotless, like the inside of a show car you would see parked in the middle of a mall somewhere. The outside could sure use some work, but Eren figured the car was bound to get dusty if Levi drove this thing through the desert every day.

For a while now the radio had been droning between static and hits from the 70s and 80s. Eren hadn’t really recognized any until the next song came on, right as the radio appeared to pick up just the right signal and the sound became crystal clear.

Levi’s slender fingers extended forward and in one fluid motion he cranked the volume knob on the radio as far to the right as it could possibly go. Eren looked at him curiously as the first words of the song echoed out from the car’s noticeably high-quality stereo system.

_Oh Mama, I'm in fear for my life from the long arm of the law_

“Fuck yeah, Styx!” Eren said enthusiastically, looking over at Levi for some sign of approval. The man just shot him a look that said “I will fucking cut you if you speak again” and Eren’s face immediately paled as he turned in the opposite direction towards the window. The next line streamed eerily from the speakers.

_Law man has put an end to my running and I'm so far from my home_

At that moment, Eren felt more connected to that song than he ever had before in his life. He was hardly a renegade, though. Just a kid who made some stupid decisions that ended up with him being in the wrong place.

He looked over at Levi again. He wondered what his story was. How had he ended up here?

_The jig is up, the news is out_  
 _They finally found me_  
 _The renegade who had it made_  
 _Retrieved for a bounty_

Eren tapped his foot quietly through the rest of the song, mouthing the lyrics every so often. He dared not to so much as look at Levi lest he incur his wrath again.

The song ended, and Levi turned the radio back down. The silence that filled the air was tangible and awkward.

“So…” Eren began, “You like that song?”

“Tch, shut up,” Levi scoffed. “We’re here.”

Eren looked out his window to discover something other than sand had appeared in the desert. There was a large, concrete compound sticking out like a sore thumb on the left side of the road just a few miles in front of them. A long driveway fed into it from the highway. Just a couple of cars were parked there. The building had no windows, and what looked to be a single front door.

“This is work?” Eren asked. Levi simply nodded.

He slowed down to take the turn but still went so fast that the teen nearly banged his head on the roof of the car. He pulled up to the complex and stopped abruptly, put out his cigarette in a (completely pristine) ashtray he had sitting on the dash, rolled up his window, and reached across Eren’s lap to get to the glovebox.

“Excuse me,” Eren blushed as the man’s face was only inches from his crotch.

“Yeah, excuse you,” Levi replied shortly. “Here, take this.”

He threw a handgun into Eren’s lap.

The teen stared at the gun for a moment, and then exploded. “WHAT THE FUCK?!”

“Shut the fuck up, you’ll blow my cover.” Levi took a second pistol for himself and opened the door on his side. “Just sit here and look pretty. I’ll be back in ten minutes.”

And with that, he was gone. Eren stared at the gun in his lap, his hands shaking and sweat beading on the back of his neck.

How the fuck did he end up in this kind of situation?

And what the hell was up with this Levi guy? Was he some sort of mob boss? A drug lord? Was Eren going to be found dead in a ditch next Tuesday morning stripped of all of his valuables? All he had to his name at the moment was a couple of twenties and an iPhone with a cracked screen. Why had Levi decided to turn back and pick him up? Wasn’t it obvious he was poor as fuck?

As all of these thoughts raced through Eren’s mind he had completely forgotten about the world around him. Then he heard a tapping sound that jarred him back into reality.

Slowly, he looked to his left, only to be greeted by a large muscular man with a handgun similar to Levi’s tapping against the driver’s side window. When Eren locked eyes with him, he smiled in the most vile manner, pointed the gun, and pulled the trigger.

Somehow, Eren managed to duck his head and avoid the almost point-blank range blast. The bullet ripped through both windows and sprayed glass in every direction. Running on sheer adrenaline, Eren somehow managed to grab the gun in his lap, open his door and sprint out into the desert amid the chaos.

“Shit shit shit shit!” he cursed as he ran as fast as he possibly could. He looked over his shoulder briefly to see the man still taking shots at him, although he seemed to somehow miraculously be dodging all of them.

“Goddamnit Levi what the fuck man!” Eren cried as he took a sharp turn, his heel kicking up sand and dust as he made a beeline for the complex. He heard more shots from within the structure and wondered if heading for shelter was really such a good idea at the moment. One look at the man who was trying to gun him down and he decided that despite the odds of more big muscly dudes with guns being inside, it was a risk he was willing to take.

Eren swung open the door and nearly fell into the entryway of the structure, clumsily slamming the door behind him in the process.

“Levi, where the fuck are you?!” Eren called into the empty area.

“The hell, kid, didn’t I tell you to stay in the car?” Levi answered as he came out for around the corner, polishing his gun with a small white cloth. “I’m done here, let’s go.”

“No you’re fucking not!” Eren yelled, “There’s a guy out there who’s been taking potshots on me for the last couple of minutes!”

“Calm your tits,” Levi huffed as he walked towards the door. He peered through the peep hole and then looked back to Eren. “Well? Where did he go?”

Eren looked at Levi skeptically. “He was just out there two seconds ago!”

Levi suddenly raised his gun and pointed it right at Eren’s face. “Duck,” he commanded. Eren wasted no time in immediately dropping to the ground as Levi pulled the trigger, his shot hitting the thug who was rounding the corner right through his forehead and splattering blood across the floor in the next room over.

Levi resumed polishing his pistol. “Well, that takes care of that. Get back in the car.”

“What the actual fuck?!” Eren screamed, jumping to his feet and grabbing Levi by the collar. “This is your fucking job?! The fuck are you, some fucking mass murderer?”

“No,” Levi snapped as he grabbed the teen’s hand and pried it from his shirt. “I’m a bounty hunter. If anything, those guys were the mass murders.” He gestured to the freshly killed body sprawled out on the floor with his gun. “Been running a small-time drug ring out here for nearly fifteen years. Numerous accounts of kidnappings, theft, and manslaughter.”

Eren ignored everything he had just said and focused on his previous statement instead. “Bounty hunters aren’t supposed to kill people, you jackass!”

“So I’m a hit man,” Levi shrugged. “I don’t care about technicalities and titles. I kill thugs and get money. There, is that a tight enough explanation for you, smartass?”

Eren groaned and rubbed his face with his hands, completely forgetting about the gun he was holding until he felt the cold metal against his cheek. He threw his hand away. “Ah!”

“You act like you’ve never seen a gun before in your life. Calm the fuck down.” Levi opened the door and walked out into the desert. Eren didn’t wait very long to follow him, not exactly wanting to be left alone in a dark, windowless house full of dead bodies.

Levi continued down the path that led from the door and out into the driveway. Eren just glared at the back of his head as he continued to scream at him. “I asked for a ride, man, not a fucking death sentence! Is this what you fucking get off on? Putting other people in danger? Well fuck you, you prick. Drop me off at the nearest gas station, because I want nothing to do with this!”

“Fine,” Levi said dryly as he opened his door to get into his car. He stared at his seat in disappointment. “You shattered my windows?”

Eren had just about had it. “Yeah. It was me! I did it! Not the guy with the gun chasing me around! Nope! It was all me!”

Levi just let out a slight “tsk” as he popped his trunk with a button under his wheel and walked around to the back to get something out. After retrieving a small brush, he returned to his side of the car and began brushing the pieces of glass out onto the pavement. He reached over and did Eren’s side as well. “There, all better. Now get in.”

Eren just sighed in annoyance as he got into the passenger’s side and slammed his door, sending the remaining bits of glass flying out. Levi got in as well and started the car.

“We’re stopping at my house first, though.”

Eren groaned. “Whatever.”

They had been driving for nearly an hour when Levi finally said something.

“I’m sorry to have put you in that situation,” he said, still not looking at Eren. “But you handled it surprisingly well.”

“Thanks, I guess,” Eren grumbled.

“I thought they were all inside of the compound. If I had known there was one patrolling outside, I wouldn’t have left you alone out there.”

The teen looked over at the older man and for the first time since he had met him he saw the hint of a sincere expression on his face. Levi continued, “That being said, a gun is not for running scared shitless when someone points theirs at your face.”

And the one moment of sincerity was gone. Eren sighed. “Yeah, well, I’ve never really had to use one in my life.”

“You should learn,” Levi replied. “Never know when you’ll have to.”

“Yeah,” Eren snorted, “Like today.”

Levi smirked. “Exactly.”

And with that they continued their drive through the desert in a comfortable silence, the radio occasionally shifting in and out of static as the setting sun illuminated the sand dunes, making them appear to be different hues of pink and purple. For once in his life, Eren somehow felt comfortable, despite the fact he was sitting next to a man who had probably killed more people in his lifetime than Eren would ever know. Regardless, he managed to fall asleep against the black leather interior of the beat up old Camaro.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So obviously this was inspired by the song "Renegade" by Styx if I didn't hit you over the head with that brick enough times yet. This is like my second serious fic so by all means please leave comments and critiques. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and let's see where it goes!


	2. Home

Eren slowly awoke as the car pulled into the driveway. That always seemed to happen to him. As soon as he settled into his seat he would fall right asleep on the road, and not even the wrath of God could awaken him. But the second his body felt the familiar shift of the car pulling into a driveway he would sit up, yawn, and rub his eyes.

For a moment, he had forgotten where he was and who he was with. One look over at the driver reminded him of everything that had just happened though. The guns. The thugs. The blood.

When he looked out of his window he saw the familiar sight of the desert, only now it was cloaked in darkness. But that was only on the horizon. Everywhere else around him, there were lush green plants and palm trees cropped up like a suburban oasis in the middle of nowhere.

“Welcome to Yuma,” Levi muttered unenthusiastically.

“So, this is home?” Eren asked.

Levi pulled his keys out of the ignition and moved to open his door. “For now.”

Eren pulled himself up and out of the car as well, following behind Levi dreamily as they walked up to the front porch of a very expensive-looking house. It had a small garden in front of the porch where flowers and cacti bloomed together, and the front lawn was a lush green and neatly trimmed. After following Levi in, Eren could see that the inside of the house was just as neat as the outside appeared to be.

Eren had begun to walk into the front room when Levi’s hand shot out and grabbed his arm.

“Shoes. Off,” he commanded. Eren sighed and went back over to the door to remove his chucks. Sand poured out of them and onto the shoe mat. Eren decided it would be best if he just removed his socks for good measure, too. Unsurprisingly, those were filled with sand as well.

“I’ll get that in the morning,” Levi muttered as he rubbed his face wearily. “For now, you should take a shower.”

“What about the gas station?” Eren asked.

Levi just looked at him. “You think you’re gonna get a chance to have a hot shower for the next few weeks if you’re hitchhiking across the country with scummy-ass truckers?”

“Fine, fine,” Eren raised his hands innocently. “I’ll take a shower. But after that—”

“You’ll have something to eat. And then, maybe, I’ll consider chauffeuring your ungrateful ass to the gas station.”

Eren couldn’t argue with that. He hadn’t eaten since last night and his stomach was beginning to grumble.

“Shower’s upstairs,” Levi pointed to the stair. “I’ll be in the kitchen when you’re done. Try not to leave any dirt in the bathroom.”

Eren had begun to start up the stairs when he turned around gave Levi one last sidelong look. “Hey, Levi?”

“What?” The man asked irritably, obviously tired of talking to him.

“Why are you being so nice to me? What’s in it for you?”

Levi shrugged. “Who knows. Karma? The fuck does it matter to you?”

Eren turned back around and started up the stairs again. “Just curious.”

Levi grumbled under his breath as he moved through the living room and picked up his laptop off of the coffee table. He brought it into the kitchen where he set it on the shiny wood dining table and opened it up. He took a seat down in front of it and bounced his leg restlessly as he clicked through his browser to his e-mail account. After scrolling through a few lines of spam he located the e-mail he was after, sent seven days ago from Irvin Smith.

He hit the reply button and began to type his message.

_Job’s done. I’ll be heading back to Phoenix on the 6 th. Should we rendezvous in Denver?_

He hit send and stared at the screen wearily. He didn’t expect to get a reply until tomorrow morning, at least. The 6th was only a few days away. It would be hard to get a plane seat, and ungodly expensive at that, but he had the money and the influence to do so. Levi wasn’t worried about that. But for some reason he felt apprehensive about his last few days in Yuma.

After lazily clicking through a few news websites and scrolling through his Facebook feed once or twice, Levi rose from his seat and figured he should probably get some dinner started. He checked the cupboard to see what he had left and was not surprised to see only a few cans and boxes of food remaining. He was a very precise shopper whenever he moved to new locations, and only bought as much as he knew he would need. The fact that he had a second mouth to feed now worried him a little, but only slightly. He could buy more food if he needed to.

Just as he was pulling out a couple of cans of Chef Boyardee, Eren bounded down the stairs and made his way around the corner.

“Aww! You’ve got Chef B!” His eyes immediately lit up. “Raviolis! My favorite!”

Levi just grunted as he got two bowls out of the cupboard and set them on the counter. He pulled the lids off of both cans smoothly and emptied the contents of each into the bowls, swiftly moving over to the microwave after he had done so. While the microwave was going, he turned back to Eren.

“So, kid, once you get to the gas station what’s your game plan?”

Eren thought about that for a moment. “Actually, I’m not really sure. I guess try and hitch a ride with someone to somewhere with a little more life in it. Maybe try and make my way back to the coast.”

“So you can hit up a rich city and try and steal your way back home?”

Eren’s eyes opened wide in shock. “How the fuck—”

“I’m not stupid, you know. I used to do a lot of that kind of thing back in my day. There’s virtually no way you can make it across the country with only a backpack to your name without lying, cheating, and stealing your way.”

The boy was impressed by his excellent intuition, but also slightly offended. Did he look like a thief? If that was the case, he was going to have to change his image.

The microwave beeped. Levi popped the door open and pulled the two bowls out, slamming it shut again with his elbow. He handed one to Erin. “Here. Eat up.”

“Thanks,” Eren replied despondently. He went to take a seat at the table. When Levi walked over to join him he brought two forks and threw one down by the hungry teen. Eren grabbed it and began to eat, trying to pace himself even though the food tasted so good and he hadn’t eaten in what seemed like days.

His eyes shifted over to the laptop’s screen that was still glowing in the darkened kitchen. “Oh, hey. Could I maybe hop on that before I leave?”

“Let’s face it, kid,” Levi said, pointing his fork at Eren, “you’re not gonna leave here tonight. I have electricity, hot water, and food. And you’re seriously going to pick sleeping on a bench outside of a gas station over sleeping in a nice, air conditioned house on a queen-sized mattress? Hmph. You’re more of an idiot than I thought.”

Eren glared at him. He wasn’t an idiot! And he would prove it! “Fine! Guess I’m spending the night!” Yeah. That would show him.

“Great,” Levi said dryly. “And in the morning you can repay me by cleaning up the mess you made in my entryway. Oh, and tonight you can repay me by doing the dishes and taking the trash out. Fair enough?”

Erin didn’t like how the hospitable offer had suddenly turned into him becoming Levi’s maid, but he went with it. “Fine.”

“Good.” Levi went back to taking small, precise bites of his raviolis. “And to answer your question, yes, you can use it, but you better wipe it down when you’re done and clear my history if you’re going to look at porn while you’re on it.”

Eren recoiled in disgust. “Dude! I’m not that kind of guy!”

“Yeah ok, whatever,” Levi got up and took what was left of his dinner over to the fridge. “I’m saving this for later. I can’t stomach red sauce very much after having just completed a job.”

Eren looked down at his dinner in dismay. Now that Levi mentioned it… He wasn’t very hungry, either.

As the older man left the room with only a wave and a quick “later” to dismiss himself, Eren decided to scarf down the rest of his dinner before recalling any more disturbing imagery and do the dishes and take out the trash as per Levi’s request. After that he sat down when Levi had been and opened the browser on the computer. He immediately went to Facebook, clicking through the pages to get to his sister’s.

“Mikasa…” he whispered to himself without thinking as he scrolled through her feed. It looked like she was doing well enough. Her summer courses for college seemed to be going well and she was well on her way to graduating early. Eren smiled as he pulled up one of their message conversations from the last time he had internet access.

_Mikasa: So have you found yourself yet?_  
 _Eren: Not yet. I’m still looking._  
 _Mikasa: :(_  
 _Mikasa: You better come back soon. I want to see you before fall semester starts._  
 _Eren: I’m trying. I promise I’ll be there. No matter what._  
 _Mikasa: Thanks, Eren. You know I love you._  
 _Eren: Yeah, love you too._

He started to feel tears well up behind his eyes, but forced them back with a quick shake of his head. He stared back at the screen, typing a few words into the reply box, and then hitting the send button quickly, just before closing the laptop and heading upstairs for the night.

_Eren: Hey Mikasa. Just wanted to let you know I’m doing well. I’m staying in Yuma, Arizona right now with some scary old guy. Don’t worry, he’s not a creepy pedophile or anything. At least I hope not. Anyway, I’m going to try and arrange for a flight home by the 15 th at the latest. Hope to see you then. Love you._

 

As soon as he got upstairs, Levi’s cellphone in his pocket began to ring. He immediately opened it and answered the call right as he was walking into his room.

“Hello?”

“Levi, it’s Hanji. Irvin just told me you got your target. Care to share the details?”

Levi rolled his eyes as he undid his belt. “Why, so you can make another PowerPoint charting my kill times? Or create a scatterplot for the ethnicity and sex of my targets?”

“Nooooo,” Hanji answered innocently.

The man sighed as he unbuttoned his pants. “I went to the compound, like I was told, I entered at approximately 7:00 PM, like I was told, and I killed the four targets inside, like I was told.”

“Ah, excellent. And approximately how long did that take you?”

“I’d say about ten minutes.”

“So efficient. Well, I’ll chalk another one up to yo—wait. You killed four targets?”

“Yes,” Levi replied before slipping his shirt off over his head. “Four. Two Caucasians, one Latino, and one mixed. All middle-aged males.”

“Not three Caucasians?”

“Hanji, if you’ve got something to say, just spit it out.” Levi was growing tense as he became aware of where this conversation was going.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Eren poked his head in. “Hi, I just wanted to ask where my room is…?” He trailed off as he realized Levi was undressed, right in front of him, wearing only a pair of dark gray boxer briefs. Eren’s eyes dipped suspiciously low before snapping back up to see Levi’s annoyed snarl.

“Down the hall, second door on the left, now get the fuck out.”

“Ok! Jesus! Good night to you, too!” Eren called as he padded down the hallway.

“Who was that?” Hanji asked, the concern in her voice evident.

“Some kid I picked up hitchhiking, it’s no big deal—”

“IT’S NO BIG DEAL?!” Hanji cried, “Levi you’ve got another target out there roaming around and there’s a civilian crashing at your house! No doubt he’s gotten back to the compound by now and is pissed that all of his friends are dead! He’s gonna be heading your way. You’ve got to do something about it quick!”

Levi rubbed the bridge of his nose irritably. “Look, Hanji, I’ll take care of it in the morning. There weren’t any cameras at the place and I’m sure there were no witnesses. He won’t be able to find me for at least another 48-hours.”

“Yeah, you better! Or you and that kid could wind up in my next slideshow of idiotic agents who fucked up their mission and got killed due to one slight oversight!”

“Shut the fuck up, I don’t need you reprimanding me. You’re not my boss.”

“No, but I can get him involved if I need to! And don’t think I won’t!”

Levi didn’t want that. He didn’t want Irvin to think anything he did ever went less than smoothly. He had already placed so much faith in him.

“Tomorrow by dinner time, bitch. We’ll see who’s laughing then.”

“Good luck, Levi. Be careful. And _try_ not to get the kid involved.”

“Quit with the bleeding heart act, already,” Levi chastised her. “I won’t, I promise.”

“Goodnight then.”

“Night.”

Levi hit the end button on his phone and walked over to his bed wearily, collapsing on top of the sheets. Just when everything had started to go so smoothly, he had to go and slip up on one little mission. No matter. He would get the fifth target tomorrow, and then make plans with Irvin to meet up in Denver. As for the kid… Who knew. Maybe Levi might just take him along with him.

 

Back at the compound, a young man with golden hair stepped through the threshold of the building to find the dead bodies of his associates littering the floor of every room. Stepping around them nonchalantly, he made his way to the back room, where a computer was set up to receive video feed from a camera that looked like it was located just outside underneath a large bush. He clicked the screen a few times and navigated his way back in the feed, looking for the moment when the attack had happened.

And then he caught it. A car pulled into the driveway, what looked to be a yellow Camaro. From the angle the camera was at, he couldn’t quite make out the driver when he pulled up or when he exited the car and presumably made his way up to the front door. He kept his eyes trained on the screen, waiting for the slightest cue to tip him off.

That’s when he saw Eren burst out of the passenger’s side and run straight in the direction of the camera. He paused it on the optimum shot of his face, memorizing every detail, not letting one pore go unanalyzed.

Smirking to himself, he pulled out a drawer on the desk the computer was sitting on and retrieved a gun. He pulled a magazine from right next to it and loaded the ammo as he laughed quietly to himself.

“Tomorrow… You’re mine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah! Another chapter! How did that happen??  
> And it looks like... A conflict has appeared! *gasp* What will befall out valiant heroes?! Fuck if I know I'm just rolling with this shit as it comes to me.  
> I also put a subtle little tumblr joke in there. Bonus points if you can find it. Here's a hint: It's a horrible joke and I suck. *sobs*  
> So yeah, thanks for all of the wonderful feedback and comments I've gotten so far! YOU'RE ALL SUCH BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE AND I DO NOT DESERVE ANY OF THIS. I LOVE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU. Please feel free to leave more comments and critiques, I eat them up like a titan in Trost. HAH no really why are you still here haven't you seen I'm a total loser yet go away


	3. Danger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh hi so
> 
> I haven't updated in a while because I just got a new job so I am working TWO JOBS at the moment on top of preparing for my fall semester. So updates will be few and far between, but I am going to finish this story, I promise! In fact, this is probably going to be the first part of a series of three fics, soooo there ya go.
> 
> I'm sorry cus this chapter is really brief and boring and probably has a ton of mistakes (I was kinda drinking while I was proofreading soooooo). BUT the next chapter is already written AND it gets a lot more badass and interesting. So, without further ado, please forgive me, I'm sorry I suck, and enjoy...?

Eren unlocked the screen on his iPhone and stared at the time. It was 3:04 AM. Groaning, he pushed himself up off of the bed.

 _Sucks that I have to go,_ he thought to himself. _That bed was really comfortable…_

Noiselessly, he made his way out of the guest room and down the hall. Nudging open the door to Levi’s room, he slid in, quickly but quietly making his way over to the sleeping man’s bed. He stood over him silently, watching the movement his chest made as he inhaled and exhaled rhythmically. He was so much more serene in his sleep than he was awake.

 _Poor bastard_ , Eren mused to himself. _Being nice to me for karma, huh? Hate to break it to you, but karma’s a bitch._

Eren grabbed the leather trifold wallet sitting on Levi’s bedside table and turned to sneak back out of the room. Before he left though, he took one last look back at Levi.

He shrugged his shoulders apologetically. _Sorry, Levi. I wouldn’t normally do this to someone so genuine, but Mikasa’s counting on me._

Next thing he was out the door with his backpack slung over his shoulders, making his way down the street into town. Even at night, it was still disgustingly hot out. Eren couldn’t wait to get on a nice, air conditioned plane and fly his way back to Vermont, where the summer heat had already probably passed by now.

It wasn’t difficult to find a gas station in town. And it had only taken Eren about thirty minutes to get there walking. He sat down on a bench by the front door, the artificial light from inside and above glowing dully and setting him at ease. He was use to this kind of scenery. To him, this was home enough, at least for the meanwhile.

A group of rambunctious young men with their hair cut short walked out of the gas station with two or three cases of beer. Eren looked on at them enviously. Even at home, he had never had anything like that. He had Armin and Mikasa, but that was pretty much it in the way of friends. Sometimes, he wished he was part of a larger group, full of people that really understood and supported him.

He shrugged the thought off and remembered what he was there to do. He had about three hours to get a ride to anywhere with a major airport, banking on the fact that Levi was an early riser, which he sure seemed like.

Just then, a black SUV pulled up to a parking spot just in front of Eren. A large man got out and walked over towards the door. He made eye contact with him briefly, and then passed by to enter the gas station. Something about the man gave Eren a weird feeling in his gut, but he ignored it. He had traveled with sketchy types before, so reaching out to this man probably wasn’t a bad idea.

When the man came back out, Eren looked up at him. Before he could speak, the man grunted, “Looking for a ride?”

“Uhh. Yeah, actually,” Eren replied. “What way are you heading?”

“San Diego.” The man was curt and gruff. Eren beamed nonetheless.

“Yeah, that’s perfect actually! Thanks a lot, man.”

“Don’t mention it,” the man replied, as he headed back over to his car. Eren followed him excitedly. That had taken a lot less time than he had expected.

He climbed up into the passenger side of the vehicle and settled in as the man got in on the driver side. As he buckled his seatbelt, the man started the car and put it in drive without buckling his.

Feeling a little tense, Eren grasped at straws for conversation. “Sooo, why are you headin’ out to California?”

“Got a job.” The man sniffed.

“Ah,” Eren drummed his fingers on his lap. “I see. What kind of job, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“… I’m something of an undertaker.”

All of the sudden Eren felt very strange, almost as if he was sick to his stomach. “Ha… Aaah…”

Without warning, two hands shot out from behind Eren’s seat and wrapped around his neck and face, pressing a damp cloth hard against his mouth. He tried yelling for help, but any noise he made was muffled by the cloth and the force being put on his wind pipe. But none of that mattered in a matter of moments, when he stopped struggling and his eyes slowly closed shut, the chemicals in the cloth having taken their full effect.

“That was easy enough,” said a man poking his head out from the back of the SUV.

“Almost too easy,” the man driving smirked.

 

Levi woke up at about 3:30 AM and rubbed his palm over his eyes groggily. He got up and shuffled into his bathroom, flipping the light on but not bothering to shut the door.

After he got done taking his routine nightly piss, he shuffled back over to the bed and went to lie back down. He hesitated for a moment though, feeling something was slightly off. He blinked his eyes in the dark, peering down at his nightstand, feeling like something was missing…

He was awake and alert in half a second. “That little shit stain,” he muttered, leaping into action as he grabbed a shirt and a pair of jeans and quickly dressed himself.

“When I find him I’m going to fucking kill him,” he grumbled as he raced down the stairs and slipped on some shoes by the door. “Maybe I’ll slit his throat with one of the credit cards he stole. That’d be real fucking poetic.”

Grabbing the keys to his car from the counter (he was actually surprised Eren hadn’t stolen that as well, but it figured considering he seemed fairly dull for his age), he jogged out the front door of the house, slamming it behind him, and quickly got into his car. Just like that, he was out of the driveway and onto the main road, peering up and down the sides like a hawk searching for its prey.

That’s when he remembered. The gas station. There was no doubt in his mind that Eren was there. He took an abrupt left turn, the wheels of the car screeching underneath him.

Levi must’ve muttered “fucking brat” under his breath at least twenty times before he arrived at the gas station. He was stopped at the light just before it, waiting for it to turn green when he spotted Eren sitting on a bench outside the front. He narrowed his eyes and glared at him as if he was hoping he would suddenly have laser vision and Eren would blow up at his command. But then he saw a man come out and talk to Eren for no more than a few seconds. After that, Eren got up and followed him to a black SUV, then disappeared into the car.

Levi stared blankly trying to process the scene for a moment. There was something incredibly suspicious about the entire scene, from the man’s thuggish look to the tinted windows on his car. He would have probably followed the vehicle anyway, considering that punk had all of his money and identification on him. But besides that, he felt as if maybe this had something to do with his line of work…

The car behind him honked its horn. The light had turned green. Levi snapped back from his thoughts and watched carefully to decide which way the SUV was going. He followed behind it for a while, but then realized he would have to be more discrete.

But there was nowhere to go. They were already on the main road out of town and Levi sure as fuck didn’t know his way around Yuma. He would surely be noticed if he followed them much longer, but if he lost them, that was it. He had to think fast.

He opened the glove box and pulled out one of the two guns still stashed in there. The other one he moved over to the console should he need it. But given his precise aim, he was almost certain that he wouldn’t.

He was just in the process of rolling down his window when he noticed a man lean out of the back of the SUV. Of course, he wasn’t just leaning out of the back to casually convince Levi to leave. He had a semiautomatic trained directly on Levi’s car.

“Fuck—” Levi had barely spoken when the man open fired, aiming mostly for the wheels but still managing to spray bullets over the rest of the front of the car. Levi attempted to swerve back and forth to avoid fire, but it was no use. One tire blew out, then the other, and the Camaro came screeching to a halt as sparks flew everywhere. The car in front of him stopped abruptly and two men got out from the back, the same one with the semiautomatic pointing it directly at Levi and the other with a handgun aiming for him as well.

Levi held the gun in his hands tenuously. Well, he had obviously underestimated the gravity of this situation. He considered the scenario carefully. There were most likely only three of them in the SUV, the two approaching him now, and the driver. But one had a semiautomatic on him, which Levi had definitely not anticipated before he decided to recklessly follow them into the middle of the desert. There was no telling what the driver carried. Not to mention, they had a hostage. Still, Levi had a fairly good chance at taking out three guys in a gun fight. But these three held an advantaged most of Levi’s targets did not: they were prepared for him.

“Looks like I’m fucked either way,” he sighed to himself, throwing the guns into the seat beside him and slowly getting out of the Camaro, palms raised in the air. The two men approached him steadily to make sure he wasn’t pulling any tricks.

“Good day, gentlemen,” Levi said, unenthused. He had one last trick up his sleeve. “I have a proposition for you. You give me the kid unharmed, and I’ll clear your names.”

The two stood in front of him about ten paces away and eased their grip on their firearms. The larger one, holding the semiautomatic, snorted out a laugh. “Or how about we take you and the kid, and there’s no witnesses to the fact that this whole thing ever transpired.”

“You can’t be that dense,” Levi sighed. The man obviously took offense and clenched his fists around his gun. “There’s obviously a hit out on you. Why else would I have killed all of your friends? Let us go, and I’ll take it off.”

“ _Or_ ,” the man next to the larger one spoke. He was thinner and had a deep tan, and his face vaguely reminded Levi of some sort of snake. “ _Or_ , we kill you and the kid, find out just who you are, and trace you back to the person who put the hit out on us. Then, we take them out.” He mockingly slapped his partner on the bicep. “Eh?” The two men laughed.

“Well that’s a fantastic idea, except you would never be able to get the clearance to get those kinds of details. Without me and the kid alive, you won’t be able to get it.”

Levi had played his last card out of desperation. He knew this option wasn’t the friendliest or the smartest one, but it was all he had left.

The wheels turned in the larger man’s head. “So, looks like we’ll just have to take you both in, and try to get it out of you. And trust me, we have ways of getting it out of you.” The pair smiled sickeningly.

Levi feigned a terrified gulp as the two men circled around him and one hit him in the back of his head with the butt of his gun. He embraced the darkness and hoped it wouldn’t be long before he woke up again.


	4. Escape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey kids. Are you excited for school to start back up? I'm excited for school to start back up. But this time I'm on the other side, teaching. It's a little weird, considering I go home and write lesson plans right before I work on juicy, juicy fanfiction.
> 
> But I digress.
> 
> Here's a chapter to celebrate back-to-school. I wrote it a while ago and proof-read it twice. It's a little lacking compared to my normal writing, but I hope you don't mind. There's some more of Levi being a badass and Eren sucking in general. Enjoy!

It wasn’t long at all before Levi woke up. Blinking rapidly as he tried to fully regain his consciousness, he found himself tied up to a rather sturdy wooden chair. The two thugs were standing in front of him, assessing their handiwork.  He casually looked over to his left and saw Eren next to him, still passed out. He supposed he must have been drugged sometime before Levi had caught up to them, so waking him up would either take time or a little effort.

“Eren,” Levi said firmly. No response. “Eren!” He shouted.

“Here, let me get that for you,” the thin man offered casually, stepping forward and punching Eren square in the jaw. Eren let out a gruff “oof” and shook his head wearily. Still half asleep from the chemicals, he blinked his eyes lazily.

“Mmmm’t’s too early to get up,” he mumbled.

Levi cursed under his breath. Of all of the people to get stuck in this shitty situation with, it was him. He shook his head as the thin man delivered another punch to Eren’s gut.

That one got him up. He exhaled sharply and doubled over in his chair as all of his breath flooded out of his lungs. It took him a while to come back to reality, and when he did, he took his sweet time realizing exactly where he was.

“Hey! What’s the deal!” He finally snapped.

“Eren, just shut the fuck up,” Levi commanded. “Let the grownups talk.”

“Who the fuck—“ Eren looked over and saw the two men grinning at him menacingly. His brow furrowed and he gritted his teeth before shouting, “Who the hell are you!? Where the fuck am I!?”

“Eren,” Levi looked at him seriously this time. Eren glanced over and made eye contact with him, as if suddenly realizing for the first time that he was in the room with him. “You need to calm down.”

Suddenly, Eren’s expression turned a whole other shade of foul. “Oh, _you_ ,” he hissed. “Let me tell _you_ something, it’s your fucking fault I’m in this situation. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be tied up in all this drug-dealing, guns-blazing, bounty hunter-type mess.”

“That’s a pretty funny way of saying ‘sorry I stole your wallet, Levi’,” Levi commented drily.

“Fuck you! Like you couldn’t spare a few hundred dollars—”

The two went on at each other’s throats while the men who had kidnapped them merely watched, perplexed by the situation. They began to think that maybe they could just let them torture each other and call it a day.

“Gentlemen, please, that’s enough bickering.” Eren and Levi snapped up from their heated argument for just a moment to see the owner of the deep, booming voice approaching. It was the man with the blond hair, the same one who had offered Eren a ride, and the one that Levi was sure he must have missed that day back at the compound. He was about six feet tall with a deep chest and wide, muscular shoulders, a frame that was as impressive as it was intimidating. He approached them casually, and then stopped just a few feet before them. “So, you’re the one who did all of the damage,” he peered down at Eren.

Eren’s eyes grew wide. “What!? Fuck _no_ it wasn’t me, I can hardly hold a gun, let alone use it! It was this jackass over here!” He motioned his head towards Levi, the chair wobbling a little from his awkward, constrained movements.

“Seems fitting, seeing as the only footage I have of you is you running scared shitless from one of my men.”

The comment stung Eren’s pride, and he thought about retorting for a moment before realizing everyone in the room except for him and Levi was armed and highly dangerous. He looked off to his side despondently. “Tch.”

“So,” the man turned his attention to Levi. “You’re the one who’s in the know.”

Levi just stared at him unfalteringly, not letting so much as one tick betray his thoughts or emotions. The blond man turned back to his thugs and said decidedly, “Torture the short one first for his information, then kill the brunette.”

Eren tensed up immediately. “Wait!” he cried out. All four men turned to him. “Levi doesn’t know anything. He’s just the brawn of the operation. I-I’m the real brains behind it. I have the information you want. Don’t hurt him…” He paused, considering his next word, before deciding to throw it in just for good measure. “… Please.”

Levi stared at him with a look that split Eren right in half. “Are you fucking serious?” he asked. “Look, dumbass, don’t try and be a hero—“

“I’m not!” Eren barked. “I’m telling the truth!”

Levi saw tears of frustration begin to well up behind the boy’s eyes. While he admired his determination, he also realized it was fucking useless in this situation.

“Eren, let me handle this,” Levi replied. Right as he was about to open his mouth to continue, someone’s phone began to ring.

The blond man glared as he took his cell out of his pocket and checked the screen to see who was calling. “Now what the fuck does she want…” he muttered, mostly to himself. He looked at his two assistants quickly. “I need to take this. You,” he pointed to the thin man, “guard the front door; keep an eye out for cops. You,” he looked at the large man, “decide who to torture and who to kill. Actually, you can just torture and kill both if you want. Better to be safe.”

The two men nodded and the thin one followed him out through a door directly behind them. With both of them gone, the large man turned back to Eren and Levi, sizing them up. “So then, the only question is, which of you do I cut into first?” He withdrew a switchblade from his pocket and flicked the blade out almost instantaneously.

“Me,” Eren said immediately. His voice hitched a little on the vowel.

“Eren, what the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Levi demanded roughly.

“Look, Levi, fact is you saved my life!” Eren huffed. The older man looked at him silently for a moment, offering to hear him out for once. “And I’m not that dumb, I know we’re both probably gonna die here today! But I don’t know, maybe if I can spare you some time and be the one who goes first…” He looked him straight in the eye. “Well, maybe it’ll be the first thing I do right in my entire life.”

Levi shook his head slowly, but chose not to speak. The thin man pressed the blade to his chin in mock contemplation for a moment, and then decided. “That was really sweet kid. So I’m going to go ahead and go with him first.” He pointed his blade lazily at Levi.

“WHAT?!” Eren cried out.

The man approached Levi, knife poised and ready to draw blood, as his soon-to-be victim just stared at the floor, looking defeated. The man crouched down to get a better look at Levi’s face and smiled. Levi continued to stare downwards, his eyes empty, like those of a man who had simply resigned himself to his fate.

“Come on now, don’t be shy,” the thin man coaxed him. “How else am I gonna be able to give you a nice little makeover?” He sneered at Levi. The thin man looked at him for just a split second more before tightening his grip on the blade when Levi made his move.

He threw his head forward, knocking the thug square in his forehead with enough force to knock him out. The man fell backwards, sprawling out onto the floor as the switchblade tumbled out of his hands. Quickly scooting over to it, Levi easily flipped the knife up with his foot, having it land on his lap. He scooted just as quickly over to Eren and hissed at him, “Turn around and grab the knife.”

“What the hell,” was all Eren could say as he stared at Levi dumbly. Then his entire expression lit up as he smiled for the first time in hours. “That was fucking awesome!”

“ _Shut the hell up!_ ” Levi hissed again. “We’ve only got a few minutes and we’ve got to make it snappy. Turn around, grab the knife, and cut your ropes. Then, get mine.”

Eren nodded obediently and scooted his chair around noisily, clumsily grabbing the knife out of Levi’s lap and setting to work on his ropes. Levi just rolled his eyes before glaring at him. “Well take your fucking time why don’t you.”

“This is kind of hard, ok! I’ve never been in this situation before!”

“Well you’re lucky I have, otherwise you and your heroic antics would have gotten us killed.”

Eren looked at him over his shoulder. “I was just trying to buy you some time!”

“Well, thanks for your fucking help,” Levi said sarcastically, “And for running away in the first place and getting kidnapped. Thanks a fucking lot. Oh! And I completely forgot. Thanks for _robbing me blind_ while you were at it.”

Eren finished cutting through the ropes on his hands and flexed them graciously before bending over, working on getting the ones on his legs and ankles next. “Look, man, I’m sorry, alright? Truth is, I promised my little sister I’d be back in time to see her before she went to college. I figured if I took your shit and hitchhiked my way to California, I could make it in time.”

“Is that your idea of an apology?” Levi asked dismissively. Eren had finally gotten his ropes undone and now circled around Levi to cut his.

“No, look, I’m sorry!” Eren cursed himself for being such a dunce. “I shouldn’t have stolen from you, is that what you want to hear?”

“Yeah, you shouldn’t have,” Levi said flatly, as Eren cut the last rope around his hands. He rubbed his wrist irritably as Eren clumsily worked on the ropes around his legs. Levi snatched the knife from him and set about freeing himself. “Besides, if you had just told me, I would have bought you a damn plane ticket myself.”

“… What?” Eren asked, looking up at him.

Levi snapped the last rope. “You heard me. I would have bought you a ticket. God, you looked so damn pathetic on the side of the road there. I thought maybe you could use a helping hand, some place to stay, something warm to eat, maybe some money to get you back to where you needed to be. But instead you turn out to be a lying, thieving prick who takes actually _genuine_ people like me for granted.”

Eren suddenly felt really ashamed of himself. “I… You’re right. I’m sorry…”

“You’re right I’m right,” Levi said firmly, finally able to stand up. “Jesus Christ, Eren, you’re a decent fucking kid. I could tell just from talking to you in the car that first time. So act like it. You obviously love your sister. What would she think if she knew you were—”

Again, Levi was cut off, this time by a knock at the door. “Hey! Boss is still on the phone, but he wants me to check on you. I haven’t heard any screaming yet! Are you waiting just for me?”

Levi snapped his fingers silently at Eren and pointed to his chair. Eren nodded and grabbed it by its feet, hoisting it up and silently moving towards the door. Levi followed him with the knife in his hand, ready to strike.

“Hello-o?” the large man called as he poked his head in the room. He gasped sharply when he saw his partner lying on the floor, but it was cut short by Eren breaking the chair over his head with one smooth, hard swing. The chair split into large pieces as it cracked over the man’s skull, the impact causing his knees to buckle as well. As he fell, Levi grabbed his head and looked up at Eren.

“Look away,” he ordered. Eren did as he commanded. He heard what sounded like a spurting noise followed by disgustingly long gurgling sound. He closed his eyes tight as he listened to Levi’s footsteps walking over to the already unconscious man lying on the floor and jumped slightly at the noise of his throat being slit as well.

Levi returned to his side and handed him the blood-drenched knife. “That one had a gun. You take this. I’ll keep that.”

Eren was about to make a quip about how disgusting the knife was but decided that now was not the time. He nodded and accepted it reluctantly, then followed Levi’s lead as he crept out of the room silently.

The structure they were in appeared to be much smaller on the inside than the other one had been. Fortunately, the two could easily hear the third man’s voice coming from a room down the hall from where they currently were. Levi made a sign with his hand for Eren to follow him and Eren nodded sheepishly, keeping close behind him.

“I don’t know, Annie, I don’t think I can move it in time… Well you know I’ve got my hands full right now… Look, can we talk about this later?”

They had just gotten to the edge of the doorframe when Levi suddenly bolted forward, pointing his gun out straight across the room at… absolutely nothing.

He felt the sting of cool metal against the side of his head as he heard the blond man cock his gun. “Hey, Annie, I’ve got to run. I’ll call you back in a few minutes, ok?” With that, he hit the end button on his phone and pushed it into his pocket. “Sorry about that. Business, you know? And you, get in here or I’ll kill your friend right now.”

Eren hesitated for a moment but then obeyed reluctantly, dread evident on his face as he rounded the corner into the room. He raised his empty palms in the air.

“Drop the gun,” he commanded Levi. Levi did as he was told, putting his hands up. The man looked over at Eren. “So here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to shoot him, then I’m going to shoot you, and then we’ll all be through with this little mess you’ve both created, alright?” He nodded and turned his attention back to Levi. “Alright.”

He locked eyes with Levi for an intense moment. Golden brown eyes leered furiously into cold, dismissive gray ones. He steadied his hand on the gun as his trigger finger tensed, readying to pull.

Eren lunged forward, flipping the switchblade out of his pocket and driving it deep into the man’s leg. He howled in pain as Levi grabbed his hand with the gun in it and twisted it backwards, causing his wrist to crack and bend in ways it shouldn’t have. With his free hand, Levi grabbed the man’s gun. He pointed it at the center of the blonde’s head and unceremoniously pulled the trigger, without uttering so much as a word. Blood sprayed back onto his arm and face, as well as a few feet back across the floor of the room. Levi merely blinked, raising his hand to wipe it off. He grimaced. “Disgusting.”

Eren’s breathing was heavy as he stared from the dead man back up to Levi, and then back to the dead man. “Holy shit,” he sighed. “We did it.”

“Damn right we did,” Levi said, crouching down next to the man’s body.

“I mean, mostly you did it, but…”

“Give yourself some credit, kid,” Levi grumbled. He reached into the man’s front pocket of his pants and withdrew a crisp, black leather wallet, flipping it open and staring at the I.D. “Huh. Reiner Braun. Never heard that name before. What a fucking asshole.”

He threw the wallet back onto the dead man’s chest before standing up and looking over at Eren. “Well, guess we better get a move on. The keys to the SUV gotta be somewhere in this joint.”

Levi stuck his hands in his pockets and began to leave the room when Eren called out to him. “Levi?”

“What?” he snapped back.

“Thanks for saving my life… Again.”

“No problem. Oh, and that reminds me…” he walked back over to Eren and stared him dead in the eye. Eren felt a sudden surge of intensity before Levi pulled back his arm and punched him square in the jaw. The teen stumbled back a few feet from the impact and swore loudly. “ _That_ was for stealing my wallet.”

“Jesus Christ,” Eren muttered, rubbing the side of his face sorely. “Here, take it back…” He withdrew the wallet from his pocket and handed it to Levi, who snatched it immediately and put it directly into his.

“Oh, and another thing—“

Eren flinched and closed his eyes, readying himself for a second punch for some other stupid mistake he had made. Instead, he felt a smooth palm slide over his cheek and pull him forward gently as Levi leaned upwards to place a gentle kiss on his lips. “That was for saving _my_ life.”

Eren felt his heart flutter a little inside his chest and he blinked rapidly, confused and a little disappointed he hadn’t gotten more of a reward than a chaste peck. “Thanks…?”

Levi just scoffed at him and walked out of the room. Eren took a second to collect his thoughts before following after him frantically. “Wait!” he called “Don’t leave me here with the dead body!”

Levi laughed to himself as he called back to him, “Certainly wouldn’t be the first time I did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOOOH WHAT HAPPENS NEXT GEE I WONDERRRRRR
> 
> We'll have to find out NEXT TIME
> 
> Also sorry that I suck and went for the cliche boss thug-leaves-victims-unsupervised-in-the-hands-of-an-incompetent-lackey-that-results-in-his-ultimate-demise route, but literally 25% of this is inspired by Styx songs, 25% is inspired by my own experiences, and 50% is inspired by cheesy buddy-cop comedy films. SO.
> 
> Until next chapter, lovelies. (✿◡3◡)


	5. Safe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ummm. Hi.
> 
> Let's just... Let's jut get this over with.

“How do you deal with it?”

“Hmm?”

“Knowing that you’ve killed someone.”

They were coasting down the highway in the black SUV that they had been taken to the compound in. Levi was driving, one hand on the wheel as the other hung lazily out of the window. Eren was riding shotgun, staring down at his fists in contemplation as he clenched and unclenched them.

Levi sighed, taking a moment to think before he responded to Eren’s question. “Well, first of all, you didn’t kill anyone—”

“I helped.”

“Doesn’t fucking matter. You didn’t kill anyone. You _protected_ me. Secondly, you don’t deal with it, you tuck it away in the back of your mind until the weight of it all is finally too much and you snap and become a serial killer.”

Levi smirked to himself as Eren just stared at him. Levi scoffed, “That was a joke.”

Silence settled in comfortably between the two before Levi finally spoke again, this time disarmingly passionate, “Look, Eren, you’re just a fucking kid. You shouldn’t have to deal with this kind of shit. But you know what, you did, and it’s over, and you’re still alive. Think about that for a second. If you hadn’t stabbed that guy, if I hadn’t shot him, you would be dead. But you’re not. He is. And if you want my opinion on the matter, he deserves to be, a whole hell of a lot more than you do, at least.”

Eren shifted his weight awkwardly in his seat and mumbled, “Yeah… Thanks, I guess.”

The two stared off into the distance out of the front window of the car. After a couple of minutes, however, Eren looked back over to Levi, squinting his eyes at him ever so slightly. “ _Sooo_ are we just gonna ignore that kiss, or like, is that something you wanna talk about…?”

Levi brought his hand up from out of the window and rubbed at his temple. “Wow, you just can’t stay quiet for five fucking minutes, can you?”

“That doesn’t answer my question.” Eren stood his ground, for once not taken aback by the older man’s scathing rudeness.

“Well gee, Eren,” Levi rolled his head to the side sarcastically, “I don’t know. Do _you_ want to talk about it?”

The boy leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms defensively. “Well, yeah. I mean, Jesus, I’ve only known you for, like, twenty-four hours—”

“Less, actually.”

“—and that just kind of came out of nowhere. Like, you don’t even know if I’m gay.”

“Are you?” Levi asked casually.

“I… Well…”

“Ah,” Levi nodded knowingly, “Still in the closet I see.”

“No, man. I think I’m bi. I mean… Fuck, I don’t know!”

“How old are you?”

“Nineteen.”

Levi nodded again. “Alright, alright. So you don’t know. Whatever, that’s fine. And hey, you may never really know. But whatever the case, some part of you likes guys. Am I right?”

Eren shrugged. “I guess.”

“Well, I know you do, because whether you realize it or not you leaned into that kiss.”

“No I didn’t!” Eren’s face reddened up to his ears as he threw his fists onto his knees and turned to Levi in distress. “That was the shortest kiss ever! You can’t know that!”

“Mmhmm. Yeah. Whatever. Look, brat, point is, I don’t need to tell you shit about my motivations. You, on the other hand, need to step back and take a look at yours.”

His words hit Eren hard. So hard that he leaned back in his seat and spent the rest of the ride to Levi’s house staring out of the window and thinking about what he had even meant by that. His motivations in general? For life? In his relationship with Levi (if it could even be called that)?

The ragtag pair dragged themselves into the house where Levi immediately flopped over onto the couch in the living room. Eren stayed back by the doorway, awkwardly rubbing his forearm and wondering where exactly to go from there.

“You can stay here, you know,” Levi chirped up intuitively. “I have this place for a few more days. I’ll arrange for a flight to take you home after that. I’m going to the airport anyways so…”

He trailed off awkwardly. Eren noted that kindness did not suit his dry, sarcastic manner well at all, but he’d take it where he could get it. He smiled softly. “Thanks.”

“If I were you, I’d take a shower, and then just call it a day.” Levi tilted his head awkwardly to look at the clock on the DVD player across the room. “I mean, it’s only one thirty but… Well, I’m sure you feel beat.”

“Yeah,” Eren sighed. In less than twenty-four hours, his life had been completely flipped upside down. There was no way he could go back to what little normalcy he had had after what he had witnessed and done. But that was something to reflect on another day. The same thing went for his “motivations.” After a shower, some ibuprofen, and a nice long rest, he’d take the time to think about all of those things. Whether or not he would resolve any of them… He himself wasn’t too sure.

Levi closed his eyes as he listened to the fading sound of Eren’s footsteps as they went up the stairs and into the bathroom. He heard the faint hiss of water streaming out of the shower as he turned onto his side and reached out for a throw pillow to stick underneath his head. Despite all of the Hell he had been through the past through days, there was something comforting in drifting off to sleep on the couch in the middle of the afternoon. Rays of sunshine filtered in through the edges of the blinds on the far wall and highlighted certain corners of it in bright gold. The ambient noises of the birds singing and the shower running only added to the cozy atmospheric effect. And there was certainly something to be said for the security of knowing that there was someone else in the big, previously empty house with him. He could get used to this kind of life.

That was the last thought that passed through his mind as he drifted off into the most rewarding sleep of his life.

 

Eren did in fact spend the next three days with him at the house. They were a peaceful, blissful three days, although neither would admit it to the other. Eren finally had a place to stay where he didn’t feel like a parasite or conman, and Levi enjoyed the company of another human being who, for once, was not trying to kill him. In the mornings, they’d eat cereal together in the kitchen as Levi read over the daily news headlines on his laptop and sipped quietly on black tea. Deciding that sitting silently around the house was boring and awkward, they’d find something to do in the afternoon, usually that involved being in a dark, air conditioned area, as it was far too hot outside for any outdoor activities. One day they went to the mall, where Levi bought Eren a few new articles of clothing.

“You can pay me back when you get a _real_ job,” he muttered at the checkout. “If anyone would even consider giving your pathetic ass a job.”

On another day, they went out for sushi at Eren’s suggestion, and he laughed when Levi got mad and threw his chopsticks on the ground in frustration. They even went out to see a movie together. It was a raunchy comedy with some big-name actors in it that Eren found particularly hilarious. He even saw Levi start to crack up a few times, and couldn’t help but grin whenever the other started to laugh.

Then the third day rolled around. Having exhausted most of the activities that the small city had to offer, the two were sitting lazily on the couch in sweat pants and T-shirts, watching a marathon of the Star Wars movies on Spike and eating cheap frozen popsicles. Levi wasn’t particularly into the movie (he thought maybe they were on Episode IV? Or I? He didn’t quite understand the whole prequel concept). But he enjoyed watching Eren’s face light up with a childlike glee as he recited certain lines in time with the characters.

“Let me see your identification,” the Storm Trooper on the TV screen demanded of Luke and Obi Wan.

Eren waved his hand in front of his face and curled his fingers at the exact same time as the master Jedi. “You don’t need to see his identification,” he said with a slight accent in his voice, attempting to impersonate the actor.

Levi snorted. “You’re such a dork.”

Eren laughed, not bothering to refute his accusation. “Come on! These movies are classics! I can’t believe you’ve never seen them.”

“I didn’t have much of a childhood,” Levi shrugged. “At least not the kind everyone thinks of when they talk about growing up. I came from a very poor family. We didn’t have the money for cable, or a T.V.”

“Oh,” was all Eren could say.

“Yeah.” Levi closed his eyes from a brief moment and then clapped his hands on his thighs before getting up. “You done with your popsicle? I’ll throw out the wrapper.”

“Yeah, thanks.” Eren handed him the long plastic tube with a few drips of fruit juice still in it.

Levi left the room and Eren could hear him opening the cabinet in the kitchen where the garbage was. It was funny how even after three days, little things like that, the everyday, mundane noises things made, or the way the fabric of the couch or his bed sheets felt, were beginning to imprint on his mind. He remembered that they would both be leaving tomorrow and felt his stomach sink a little.

Levi came back and flopped back onto the couch, spreading his arms out over the back of it. His hand fell just short of Eren’s shoulder, and the short distance was palpable to them both. Eren swallowed deeply, feeling like an awkward preteen on his first date again.

He passed by the bar fight scene in the cantina in total silence, despite knowing every word of it. It wasn’t until they got to Han Solo’s introduction that he finally said something.

“Heh, you know…” Eren flushed preeminently, the embarrassment from what he was about to say already flooding over him. “Han was always my favorite character.”

“Really?” Levi said, sounding vaguely interested.

“Yeah. I guess I’ve always had a thing for rogue-ish types.”

That was it. It was over. He could just see Levi grabbing him by the collar and dragging him out of the house where he would proceed to stomp on his face. The line was just that cheesy. Eren stared at the screen intensely as he waited for Levi to respond.

But he didn’t respond. Instead, Eren felt the cushion of the couch shift underneath him as Levi moved slowly, deliberately towards him, his body stopping just centimeters away from his. He felt him tilt his head as his hot breath ghosted over Eren’s ear. “Is that so?” he whispered.

Eren just nodded dumbly and tried not to do or say anything stupid that would ruin his chances. He felt hot, so hot, and uncomfortable and embarrassed and not quite sure what Levi was going to do next but hoping and praying that it would end with his lips on his, like that time back at the compound.

But Levi was more subtle than that. He couldn’t just give Eren what he wanted. That would defeat the whole purpose (the purpose of what? Hell if he knew).

He kissed him first on his ear. Then his temple. Then on his cheekbone. They were slow, light kisses that lingered on Eren’s skin well after Levi had moved on to the next spot. He went down the side of his face, across his jawline, over onto his chin… And then stopped. His face was directly in front of Eren’s now, and there was absolutely no chance of avoiding eye contact.

Their locked eyes for the most fleeting of moments, and then Levi’s lips were on his. They were heavy and slow and wet, and everything about them made Eren feel like his heart was on fire. He turned his entire body to face Levi, reaching his hands up to thread them through his hair and hungrily pushed forward, needing more contact.

But Levi wasn’t about to give up his dominant position so easily. He pushed them both back onto the couch, falling on top of Eren in a tangled mess of limbs. He regained composure quickly, keeping his mouth on the boy’s as he ran his hands underneath his shirt, feeling his way over the taught muscle up to his collar bone.

“God fucking damn it.” Levi broke the kiss and leaned back slightly, beginning to pull his shirt over his head. “Clothes need to start coming off. Now.”

Eren just nodded dumbly again, not fully convinced yet that this was all happening, and threw his shirt off as quickly as he could. It landed over the TV, draping across C-3PO’s face on the screen. He fumbled with his belt for a moment before Levi’s hands stopped him.

“No,” he commanded. Eren looked up at him, slightly intimidated by his tone. “I get to do that.”

He didn’t say anything as Levi’s slender fingers worked to undo his belt and slip it off of his waist with the greatest ease. He didn’t say anything as Levi ran his palms slowly over the inside of his thighs, causing Eren to spread his legs apart without even realizing it. He didn’t say anything as Levi unbuttoned his jeans and pulled down the zipper, grabbing his pants by the waistband and working them off smoothly. He didn’t say anything as Levi lowered his head to Eren’s obvious erection that was pushing his navy blue boxers taut.

“ _Fuck_ ,” Eren moaned when Levi finally pressed his mouth against his cock. Even through his boxers, the feeling of Levi’s lips against him was intense and pleasurable and everything he had thought it would be when he caught himself staring at the older man’s lips and daydreaming about things he shouldn’t be. Only now it was actually happening.

Levi teased his fingers around the waistband of Eren’s boxers and slowly began to pull them off, all the while working his lips ravenously around the outline of his dick. Eren’s fingers wound their way around strands of the older man’s thick, dark hair, curling and uncurling irritably.

“Fuck,” he cursed again. After a brief moment, he let out a terse sigh. “Goddamnit, Levi. Just suck me off already.”

Levi raised his head to look directly into Eren’s eyes. “I’m sorry, but I don’t exactly think you’re in a position to make demands right now.”

“Please!” Eren cried, wiggling his hips irritably on the couch. “We were going so fast just a minute ago! I can’t deal with all of this teasing bullshit!”

Levi’s only reply was an aggravated grunt before he unceremoniously yanked Eren’s boxers off and threw them in a random direction to join with his pants and shirt. Then, without any sort of proper warning, he wrapped his lips around Eren’s cock and sucked, _hard_.

Eren let out something between a cry of pain and an orgasmic moan. His fingers immediately knotted in Levi’s hair in response to the sudden stimulation and he jerked his hips back erratically. He heard what sounded like a muffled snicker come out of Levi’s throat as he continued to suck on Eren, a little less rough now that he had produced the reaction he wanted.

While he worked on Eren’s throbbing arousal, he couldn’t help but notice his own. With one hand placed firmly on the boy’s hip bone for support (and to ensure that Eren didn’t just recklessly attempt to fuck his mouth), he used the other to unbutton his own jeans and work his waistband and boxers lower to free his aching erection. He set to work on himself, already turned on by the situation as it was but even more so by the fact that Eren was producing the most vulgar noises he had heard in his life.

Eren couldn’t help but glance down again to make sure, once again, that this was really happening, and saw Levi pumping himself provocatively. He let out a moan as he ran his hand further into Levi’s hair, his fingertips reaching down the back of his neck before running back up over his scalp again. “Oh my God,” he breathed, “You’re so fucking hot.”

He knew he was close, and he had a feeling Levi was, as well. Although his hips were semi-restrained, he couldn’t help but buck them anxiously to try and generate more friction against Levi’s hot, wet mouth. Levi was almost to the point of taking him in whole when Eren bucked his hips three times, rapid and shallow against him, and then came suddenly in his mouth. Levi swallowed, the bitter taste lingering in his throat and he thrust into his own hand a few more times before coming hard and fast onto his palm. Exhausted and completely spent, he let out a huff as he collapsed on top of the younger man, his head resting on top of Eren’s chest.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Eren breathed, rubbing his face tiredly with one hand, his other still woven into Levi’s hair. “Why didn’t we do that sooner?”

“Because you’re a fucking idiot,” Levi groaned, discretely wiping his palm against his jeans. Afterwards he wrapped his arms tight around the other’s waist and nuzzled his head into his hot skin. “Do me a favor and set an alarm for five o’clock.”

Eren reached over his head for his phone that was sitting on top of the end table. “You don’t wanna go up to the bedroom?”

“After that? Fuck no. I just wanna sleep.”

Eren couldn’t help but smile a little to himself, realizing he was at least partially to blame for Levi’s exhaustion. He tapped quickly on his phone screen, making sure he had an alarm set for the time Levi had requested. “Fine by me. Goodnight.”

Levi left a quick, chaste kiss on the center of Eren’s chest. “Night.”

They slept together on the couch, lulled to sleep by the soothing sounds of blaster fights and light saber battles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK SO  
> I'M LIKE REALLY BAD AT WRITING PORN BUT  
> I REALLY WANTED TO DO IT SO I JUST DID IT AND  
> THAT'S ABOUT IT
> 
> Renegade is coming to a close, ladies and gents. But don't worry, I will revisit this series after this part ends!
> 
> AND AND AND I'm working on a new Ereri project called Passenger it's going to have GUITARS and BARS and BABES and ORCHESTRAS wut
> 
> follow me on tumblr to get the deets and chapter updates first hand, yo. I ALSO DRAW AMATEUR FANART LAWL  
> http://classicalivory.tumblr.com/
> 
> you've all been wonderful darlings a thousand kisses for you muaw muaw muaw how the fuck do you put up with me and my shit writing i don't know but I love you more every day because of it <3


	6. Away

It was six o’clock in the morning and Eren was not okay with being awake. He looked like death as he trudged up to the check-in counter at the airport and threw his passport in front of the annoyingly vibrant middle-aged clerk.

“Checking any bags today, sir?” She giggled sunnily.

“No,” Eren replied emotionlessly.

The clerk looked at him with a motherly sense of worry but just went through the regular procedure of printing Eren his boarding passes. She paused for a moment after blinking at her computer screen, and then looked back over to Eren. “Sir, there is a flight leaving for your destination two hours earlier. If you’d like I can—”

“No,” he cut her off. “No. Thank you.”

“A-alright…”

Afterwards Eren took his boarding passes politely from the woman and issued a quiet thank you before slinging his backpack over his shoulders again and turning to head towards the security checkpoint. Levi stood waiting for him, a professional looking black suitcase hanging off of his shoulder.

“Man, you look like shit,” he offered impassively. “I thought you were a morning person?”

Eren just shrugged. Levi examined him for a moment as they walked before a sly smile spread across his face.

“Did I… Did I fucking waste you?”

Eren did a double take before staring at him in complete bewilderment. “What the fuck?”

“We didn’t even fuck and I destroyed you.”

Eren’s ears turned red as he ducked his head and glared at the ground. “Dude, shut up, not so loud.”

“What, don’t want the entire airport to know you like cock?” Levi stopped walking for a moment and cupped a hand around his mouth, “HEY, EVERYBODY, GUESS WHAT—”

Eren elbowed him in the side, half playfully and half completely serious, causing Levi to double over slightly. But the laughter he was able to coax out of him after teasing him so harshly more than made up for it.

It would be painful to watch him go.

Levi’s mood suddenly darkened.

They spent the next moments in a comfortable albeit melancholic silence as they shuffled through security one at a time and then made their way to a bench on the other side. Levi had gone through first, and had already had time to reassemble all of his belongings. Eren, on the other hand, had to sit down to put his sneakers back on. As he did, Levi looked distractedly down at the floor.

“Hey, uh… This may seem a little invasive, but what the Hell. Can I get your number?”

Eren blinked up at him, Levi’s eyes still trained on the ground. He smiled genuinely. “Only if I can get yours.”

Levi pushed himself off of the wall he had been leaning against and began to walk away. He turned just slightly to smirk at Eren, “Play your cards right until my flight comes and you just might.”

“Hey!” Eren yelled after him as he continued to walk away, a slight blush settling on his cheeks. “T-that’s not fair! Wait for me! I’ve still got to put my belt back on!”

Levi’s plane was the first scheduled to leave. The two settled down at the gate with a good thirty minutes until boarding time separating them from the inevitable. Levi had an ear bud in one ear and was blasting his music so loud Eren could hear it coming out of the other, which was dangling over his chest.

“Hey,” he poked Levi’s arm. “Can I listen?”

Levi just nodded dully as he handed Eren the other ear bud. The young man brought it up to his ear and fidgeted with it for a second before securing it properly. The music playing was the Rolling Stones. Eren didn’t say anything, but nodded in silent appreciation.

He turned to look out the window at the planes flying in and out of the airport and the sun just beginning to peak out over the horizon. Levi had closed his eyes and was leaning back in his seat, arms folded over his chest and legs crossed, stretched out in front of him. The light from the early sunrise played off of his white shirt, making it appear a mixed hue of pink and orange. It added a slight flush to his face as well, and Eren sighed contentedly as he looked him over in detail, perhaps for the last time. Levi opened an eye and peered over at him.

“The fuck’s your problem?”

Eren just smiled dumbly. “You.”

Levi chuckled darkly. “This sucks, you know. Just when we were getting to know each other… Just when my life felt normal for once… We have to say goodbye.”

Eren swallowed a hard lump in his throat and tried his best to look cheery. But how could he after Levi had just dropped a sentimental bomb on him? “I’m sure we’ll meet again. Some time. Somewhere.”

“Tch,” Levi glared out the window. “Doubt it. Unless you want to start taking out hits yourself, it’s highly unlikely we’ll ever cross paths again…”

It was a stupid remark. It was a blatantly obvious remark. Levi cursed himself for even saying it out loud. Why the Hell had he even brought it up, after all Eren had seen and been through?

The young man shifted in his seat a little. “Well… If you’re looking for a partner, I mean… I have _some_ prior experience.”

Levi tried not to appear too surprised or overjoyed. He played it off coolly with a snorting laugh. “Well I don’t know if I’d count ‘running away from a guy with a gun’ as prior experience.”

“ _I stabbed someone_!” Eren retorted, and Levi threw a hand over his mouth, chuckling as he shushed him. Eren laughed as he looked around, making sure no one had heard what he had said, or at least taken too much note of it…

Just then, the speakers at the gate perked up. “ _Attention passengers on flight 23 with service to Phoenix, if you are seated in section A, you may begin boarding at this time_.”

“Well, that’s me,” Levi huffed, pulling his ear bud out as well as Eren’s, although unintentionally. As he wound the cord around his iPod in his hands, he looked back down at the younger man. “As for a partnership… Hit me up when you get back home. I doubt your sister would approve, but… Just tell her it’s an internship.”

Eren smiled and clapped his hands on his knees before rising to stand as well. “Sounds like a plan. I’ll walk with you to the desk…”

They walked along together until Eren wasn’t permitted to go any further behind the counter. Without a word, Levi turned to him and wrapped his arms around him in a brief, comfortable hug. Eren tilted his face down into Levi’s hair and couldn’t believe he felt like crying.

“Hey, buck the fuck up,” Levi commanded as he released him. “And one more thing…”

“What?” Eren asked. “Anything.”

“This little thing we’ve got going…” Levi pointed his finger back and forth between the two of them. “Don’t you dare think for a second that it’s over. I will find you. I have my ways.”

Eren just smiled and nodded, “Alright. I won’t.”

“And text me, ok? Let me know when you touch down in Vermont.” He was waving, one hand resting snuggly in the pocket of his jeans, walking backwards down the covered ramp to the plane.

“Ok,” Eren called, waving back to him. “See you.”

The whole exchange passed by in the blink of an eye, and just like that, Levi was gone, disappeared down the runway and out of Eren’s life.

He suddenly regretted not holding onto him for just a bit longer, or stealing a kiss when no one was looking, or breathing in his scent more deeply, just one more time.

He kicked at nothing as he pivoted on his heel to walk away to his own gate. He needed to go sit, he thought, to blare sad music and feel sorry for himself for a little while. He would get excited about going home later.

When he arrived at his own gate and settled down he realized he still had one hour to kill. He had begun playing Solitaire on his iPhone when the screen flashed with a new message.

_Levi: Miss me yet?_

Eren smirked. It hadn’t even been ten minutes and they were already texting.

 _Eren: Aren’t you supposed to turn all electronics off while the plane is in flight, sir?_  
Levi: Honestly if this plane goes down because I’m texting I will laugh my ass off.  
Eren: You’ll be laughing in HELL. Because you’ll be DEAD.  
Levi: Shut up, smart ass.

It was nice, Eren thought, to have someone to volley texts back and a forth with. It felt… Normal. It felt comforting. Like there was always someone he could talk to now, and expect a reply that wasn’t a worried complaint or a harsh reprimand. Just a casual conversation about absolutely nothing important.

It was beautiful.

He continued to text Levi between rounds of Solitaire until he finally managed to doze off. It wasn’t long before he was awoken by the call to begin boarding, however.

The worn out youth rubbed his eyes with one hand as he stretched his other arm out, arching his back. He yawned as he rose to his feet and walked over to get in line behind the twenty or so other passengers waiting to board. As he stood there, he looked at his phone, realizing he had one unread text message.

 _Levi:_ _Hey, you weren’t serious about that partner thing, were you?_

Eren smirked, his fingers swiping across the screen quickly as he typed out a reply.

_Eren: Dead serious._

He pocketed his phone and shuffled forward with the rest of the line, moving slowly but surely towards the ramp. It buzzed against his leg just seconds after he had done so, though, and he reached down to pull it out again. The two began to send rapid fire texts between themselves.

 _Levi: Then I’ll get the paperwork started. Welcome to the team, recruit Jaeger. Don’t get too cocky though, you fucking brat._  
Eren: No worries there, sir.  
Levi: Good. Because I have ways of dealing with that.  
Eren: Ooo maybe I’ll have to start getting cocky, then.  
Levi: I swear to God, you try that embarrassing shit you call “flirting” at HQ and you’re going to get your ass handed to you.  
Eren: I’ll make note of it, sir.

Their relationship wasn’t perfect. Far from it. As far as Eren knew, it could hardly even be defined as a relationship. But whatever it was, it what nice, and that was all that really mattered to him. And if he could draw it out, maybe get to know Levi a little more… Who’s to say it couldn’t become something perfect?

He couldn’t wait to explain this all to Mikasa when he got home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (mmmmmf airport goodbyes I fucking hate them, I've done too many in my life, man, way too fucking many)
> 
> Theeeeee eeeeeeeeeeend~
> 
> UNTIL THE NEXT PART! *does a little tap dance and throws in some jazz hands for good measure*
> 
> But Renegade will be getting tucked away for a little bit as I shift over to working on Passenger. If you haven't read the first chapter of that yet, it's up on my page right now! It's a little more toned down and serious than Renegade, and will deal with some heavy themes like expectations vs reality and real vs ideal. All of that heavy adult shit I'm coming into in my life.
> 
> BUT I hope you all enjoyed the fun, quirkiness of Renegade! All of the kudos and bookmarks and comments I got on it meant soooooooo much to me, especially considering this was only my second major fanfic, and my first for the SnK fandom! It's such a great fandom, I feel like sticking around for a bit. *settles self comfortably onto Ereri ship*
> 
> So with that, I hope you have a good night, sweet dreams, and a sssspooOOOooOOOpyyy October! <3  
> ~xoxo Classic


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